Closure



Nov. 11,1941. H. Lockwoon I 2,262,021

CLOSURE Filed April 27, 1958 Patented Nov. 11, 1941 UNITED, STATES PATENT OFFICE ctosmm Louis B. Lockwood, Rohrerstown, Pa., assignor to Armstrong Cork Company, Lancaster, Pa., a

corporation'of Pennsylvania 3 Application April 27,1938, Serial No. 204,537 5 Claims. 5 (CL 215-43) This invention relates to metallic closures for receptacles and, more particularly, to metallic closures of the type having an inner cap provided with means for attaching the closure to a receptacle and an outer shell telescoped over the inner cap and secured thereto and concealing the inner cap from view when the closure is in'sealing posi tion. Closures of this'type are generally designated double shellv closures and a specific form of double shell closure is illustratedin United States Patent No. 2,133,298, granted October 18, 1938, in the name of Walter F. Kaufman. My invention relates to an improved form of the closure disclosed therein.

It is commercially impracticable, of. course, to test each double shell closure manufactured, or even a large number of them, to determine the force required to break the lock between the inner cap and the outer'shell thereby permitting relative rotation. .The generally accepted practice in the industry is to test one closure of perhaps each thousand closures manufactured to determine the force required to break such look. If the bead of the outer shell does not engage a sumcient number of pips, closure applying ma-' chinery-may accidentally break the lock whenthe closure is applied to a package. The correct location of the pips in such closures is a matter of about one hundredth of an inch or so, and the unavoidable variations in size which occur in theis true-such unsatisfactory lock seldom occurs in the closures tested, it will be appreciated even 'a single closure found deficient in locking' engagement is undesirable since it may create doubt in the user's mind of, the practicability of the lock between the cap and 'the'shell.

I have devised an improved double shell closure in which a' satisfactory lock between the cap and the shellcan always be obtained regardless 'of minor variations ..in size caused by commercial manufacturing practices. An object of my invention is to provide a simple, efiective union of the inner cap and outer shell whereby relative rotation of the parts is prevented. Affurther obiect is to provide a novel closure structure which obviates harmful deformation-of the attaching means formed on the cap during assembly of the cap with the outer shell; substantially "all of the force exerted upon the inner cap in the assembling operation being radial thereof.

comprising an inner cap having a downwardly extending skirt, a flange on the skirt, a plurality of preformed pips of generally conical or pyramidal shape-on the flange terminating in points disposed inwardly of the flange, said pips being so disposed on said flange that adjacent pips are offset vertically to one another, anouter shell having a downwardly extending skirt covering the skirt of the inner cap, and a bead formed on the skirt of the outer shell engaging a sumcient number of said preformed pips and being deformed by such engagement to prevent relative rotation between the cap and the shell. In order that my invention may be more readily understood, I will describe the same in conjunction with the attached drawing, in which Figure l is an exploded sectional view of my closure prior to assembly;

Figure 2 is a sectional view showing the closure after the assembly operation is completed; and

FigureB is a sectional view, similar to Figure 2, showing a modified form of closure.

Referring to the drawing, there is shown an inner cap 2 and an outer shell 3. The inner cap comprisesa' cover portion 4 which may be provided with a. liner forcing annulus 5, and a depending skirt portion 6. The skirt is provided with suitable receptable engaging means which are illustrated as screw thread formations I, al-

though any other suitable means may be"provided for securing the closure to a receptacle to be sealed. A liner holding recess 8 may be provided if desired. [The depending'skirt portion 6 isprovided with an axially extending flange 9; the flange 9 is formed with 'a shoulder portion I8 which'is directed outwardly from the skirt of the cap;' The shell 3 comprises'a cover portion Ii and a} depending skirt portion l2 which, of

course, is somewhat longer than the skirt 6 of the inner cap. 3 v

A plurality of pips I3 are formed on the flange 9 andextend inwardly therefrom. These pipsare of generally conicalshape and, as illustrated in Figure l, when severed along amedian line, present a surface l4 "extending at an angle to the axis of the cap and another surface it extending at an angle thereto which bisects a line drawn from the surface it! to the axis of the cap, with the apices iii of the pips 13 extending generally radially inwardly toward the axis of the cap.

As pointed out above, the pips are preferably of genera-11y conical shape, but other shapes maybe 7 V employed. By the This invention relates to a double shell closure'ss term pips as: used herein,

it is intended to include protuberances, deforms.

The pips I3 are preferably in the drawing. I have found, in a 28 mm. cap,

for example, twelve pips spaced equidistantly about the flange are satisfactory. The pips should be spaced from each other a distance sufficient to permit the outer shell to be deformed thereabout by the forces developed during: the beading operation. By offsetting alternate pips, I have found secure locking engagement between the cap and shell may be effected even though minor variations in size of the cap and shell occur for a suhicient number of pips are engaged by the head to prevent relative rotation.

The inner cap is telescoped within the outer shell and the edge I! of the skirt [2 of the shell 3 is curled into a bead by an assembly punch, and engages the pips l3 resulting in a deformation of the skirt of the outer shell, which deformation is enhanced by the fact that movement of the edge induced by the assembly punch is arrested by the shoulder I and considerable pressure is thereby applied to the metal of the skirt in the region of the pips. It will be appreciated that due to variations in manufacture the edge of the skirt of the outer shell does not contact the shoulder circumferentially of the cap in all'cases. Engagement by the pips and deformation induced thereby distorts the edge first one way then the other, thereby creating strong resistance against movement with reference to the inner cap.

Deformation of the threads on the inner cap is at a minimum since substantially all force applied in the assembly operation is radial of the cap rather than axial. There may be a slight curling of the edge of the inner cap to conform with the bead of the outer shell formed by the curling punch. Since the curling punch first engages the exposed edge of the skirt that portion will have engaged the pips prior to any material curling of the edge of the inner cap. The cut edge of the outer shell preferably lies in engagement with the flange of the inner cap and the cut surface of the inner cap is engaged. with the beaded portion of the skirt of the outer shell to increase the interlocking engagement.

In the embodiment illustrated in Figure 3, th cap l8 and the shell I! are of generally the same form as that shown in the other figures. In assembling closures of this type, the assembly punch is so shaped that the edge of the skirt 2| of the outer shell l9 falls among the pips 22 substantially as shown and is deformed thereby, engaging the upper pips on their lower sides and the lower pips on their upper sides, the edge of the bead 23 being distorted first one way then the other by such engagement.

My invention assures a secure lock between the inner cap and the outer shell since in all cases the inturned portion of the skirt of the shell engages and is deformed about the pips and such deformation distorts the edge thereof in opposite directions thereby greatly increasing the resistance to relative rotation. The pips terminate in points thus securing the most satisfactory deformation of the skirt of the outer shell and such pips are not easily flattened or otherwise deformed so as to lessen their effective grippingmction. Deformation of the threads of the inner cap is at a minimum since substantially all force applied is radial of the cap rather than axial.

While I have described and illustrated a preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that the invention is not so limited but may be otherwise embodied within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A double shell closure comprising an inner cap having a downwardly extending skirt, a flange on the skirt, a plurality of preformed pips of generally conical or pyramidal shape on the flange terminating in points disposed inwardly of the flange, said pips being so disposed on said flange that adjacent pips are offset vertically to one another, an outer shell having a downwardly extending skirt covering the skirt of the inner cap, the terminal portion of the skirt of the outer shell being turned inwardly and upwardly into a bead engaging the flange and deformed about adjacent pips thereon toprevent relative rotation between the cap andthe shell, the edge of the inturned bead being distorted in opposed vertical directions by engagement with adjacent pips so that the edge portion distorted by one pip .lies in a horizontal plane substantially different of the flange,'said pips being disposed on said flange in substantially horizontal'rows, at least some of the pips in one row being offset vertically from adjacent pips in another row, an outer shell having a downwardly extending skirt covering the skirt of the inner cap, and a bead.

formed on the skirt of the outer shell engaging a sufficient number of said preformed pips and being deformed by such engagement to prevent relative rotation between the cap and the shell, the edge of the bead being distorted in opposed vertical directions by. engagement with adjacent pips so that the edge portions distorted by pipe in one row lie in a. horizontal plane substantially different from the horizontal plane of the edge portions distorted by pips in a second row.

3. A double shell closure comprising an inner screw threaded cap having a flange thereon extending outwardly and then downwardly, a plurality of preformed pips of generally conical or pyramidal shape on the flange and extending radially inwardly therefrom, said pips being disposed on said flange in substantially horizontal rows, pips in one row being offset vertically from adjacent pips in another row, an outer shell having .a downwardly extending skirt telescoped over the inner cap, the terminal portion of the skirt of the outer shell being turned into a bead engaging the flange and being deformed about pips thereon to prevent relative rotation between the cap and the shell, the edge of the lnturned bead being distorted in opposedvertical directions by engagement with adjacent pips so that the edge portions distorted by pips in one row lie in a horizontal plane substantially different from the horizontal plane of the edge portions distorted by pips in a second row.

4. A double shell closure comprising an inner cap having a downwardly extending skirt, a plurality of preformed pips of generally conical orpyramidal shape on the flange terminating in points disposed radially inwardly of the flange, said pips being disposed on said flange in substantially horizontal rows, pips in one row being ofiset vertically from adjacent pips in a second row, an outer shell having a downwardly extending skirt covering the skirt of the inner cap, the terminal portion of the skirt of the outer shell being turned into a bead with the edge thereof disposed between said rows of pips and engaging pips in both rows and being distorted thereby to prevent relative rotation between the cap and the shell, the edge of the inturned bead being distorted in opposed vertical directions by engagement with adjacent pips so that the edge portions distorted by pips in one row lie in a horizontal plane substantially different from the horizontal plane of the edge portions distorted by pips in the second row.

5. A double shell closure comprisingan inner cap having a downwardly extending skirt, a

flange on the skirt extending outwardly and then downwardlyna' pluralityv of preformed pips of generally conical or pyramidal shape disposed about the flange and terminating in points disposed radially thereof, said pips being so disposed on said flange that adjacent pips are oiTset vertically to one another, an'outer shell having a downwardly extending skirt covering the skirt of the inner cap, the terminal portion of the skirt of the shell being turned inwardly and upwardly in the form of a bead with the edge thereof disposed between and engaging adjacent pips and being'distorted thereby to prevent relative rotation between the cap and the shell, the edge of the inturned bead being distorted in opposed vertical directions by engagement with adjacent pips so that the edge portion distorted by one pip lies in a horizontal plane substantially different from the horizontal plane of the edge portion distorted by an adjacent pip.

LOUIS H. LOCKWOOD. 

